


Cloud Nine

by HyperKey (Sylverstia)



Series: Chronological Order [24]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Choking, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Stabbing, Whump, lots of blue blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 07:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16300622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylverstia/pseuds/HyperKey
Summary: When Nines is severely damaged, Gavin realizes he likes the tin-can a bit more than he let on.





	Cloud Nine

**Author's Note:**

> i usually don't spend 3 days writing a oneshot but here you have this.
> 
> I live on comments. Please tell me what you liked and what i could improve.
> 
> aaaaand keep the typos i have no beta.

Driving home was usually one of the most boring activities of the day. Before he had adopted Emma, he would simply stay in the station all night, sometimes even sleep there. Coming home every night around eleven pm had become routine, and yet, sometimes it still felt weird.

Especially since there had an android practically moved in.

Cory was sitting in the passenger’s seat, eyes trained on the road. Unmoving. Gavin hated it when he analyzed everything and figured things out way before they actually happened.

It took away the surprise.

Slowly be brought the car into the parking lot and killed the engine, then left the car, locked it when Cory had shut the door and headed for the front door of the apartment complex.

Gavin didn’t realize he had been pushed until he was on the ground, hitting his head on the wet asphalt of the parking lot in front of his apartment. His face burned, scraped by the rough surface. He had no idea why Cory pushed him, but training set in quickly and he looked around to get his bearings. The rain had drenched him already and he couldn’t wait to get inside.

Cory was fighting against a hooded person. Red blood gushed from the opening in the mask. Cory had hit his nose. Person was human, male, masked. Possibly mid-thirties. And there was blue blood everywhere, almost glowing in the dim light.

Somehow the attacker had injured Cory, with a knife obviously meant for Gavin. The attacker ran when he noticed that he had no chance, but instead of chasing him, Cory just stood there for a moment, LED a glaring red.

Gavin opened his mouth to order him to chase, words caught in his throat when the android went down hard on his knees, hands clutching his throat as a wheezing sound escaped him. Blue blood sputtered to the ground as he coughed and choked on the thirium blocking his airways.

The detective had no idea why. Androids didn’t need to breathe.

But here was a knife buried in his neck and the wound was bleeding profusely.

His training kicked in before he even realized what he was doing and he tried to get a better look in the dim lights.

The android swayed and Gavin held him in place with one hand as he fumbled for his phone with the other. Why did they always attack him when he was off duty?

Dialing 911 always felt ridiculous.

The woman on the other end sounded gentle, most likely an android. “What’s your emergency?”

“Detective Gavin Reed reporting. RK900 attacked at 2199 Prince Hall Drive, suspect on the loose, android injured. Need backup and a technician.”

“Roger that, Gavin. A patrol and a technician are headed your way. ETA 9 minutes.

Gavin growled. Bridget on dispatch. He would have recognized her voice from anywhere. Out of all the days this could have happened it had to be _her_. At least she was professional about it and didn’t let their past interfere with their job.

“Understood.”

“Any details on the injury?” She asked, probably preparing to inform the technician so this could get sorted faster.

“Stabbed in the throat, knife seems to be a butterfly. Bleeding quite bad.”

“Understood, relaying info to the technician. Stay with the android.”

He snarled, ended the call and pocketed the phone, then turned his attention back to Cory who was clawing at his throat as he forced air into his system. Gavin noticed that the android felt significantly warmer than just minutes before.

“You don’t need to breathe, just shut it off!” Gavin hissed, angered now. “You’re a fucking android!”

Cory didn’t respond to his words, but fingered the knife in his throat and flinched when Gavin batted his hand away. “No, you leave that in.”

The android obviously tried to respond, but there was only a horrible wheeze accompanied with another sputter of blue blood against the ground. The detective cursed loudly, unsure what to do. The mandatory android first-aid course wasn’t that long ago and he tried to recall the essentials. Stopping the blood flow seemed like a good idea.

Grunting he got back to his feet, made sure Cory leaned against the car and wouldn’t slip, before he went to the trunk and dug out the first aid kit. It was meant for human use, but there was nothing else he had. The Android kits had been ordered but not distributed yet.

Not that Gavin would have known what to do with them anyway.

“Fuck.” He cussed and dug for his phone again, this time to call his brother while he looked for gauze to staunch the blood flow.

Chloe picked up almost immediately. “Elijah is currently busy, you can leave a message-“

“I need to talk to him, Chloe. Now.” Gavin hissed as he ripped a plastic package open and pressed it onto the wound.

Something about _feeling_ the inner workings of his partner made him feel uneasy. He could feel the ragged attempts to breathe, the delicate wiring stutter and slip where it had been severed.

“He doesn’t want to be bothered.” Chloe replied with her angelic voice.

“I don’t care who he fucks right now, my partner is dying. He needs help.”

The RK900 was built to withstand a shit ton of damage. Where Connor would falter, Cory would power through. But no one had ever thought to reinforce the throats? That knife wasn’t meant for Cory.

Silence met him on the other end of the line, then a sigh. “I will inform him.”

“Hurry the fuck up!”

He could her Chloe speaking, but tuned that out when Cory’s hand grasped his shirt. That was strange. The android had never shown any need for comfort or reassurance, but the twisted face and the frantic attempts to draw air into his systems, had his insides clench into a painful knot.

This wasn’t the RK900 he knew.

This was a terrified android.

“What happened?” Elijah’s voice sounded in his ear.  Gavin needed a moment to shake himself out of his thought.

“Cory got stabbed in the throat. You hear this? Sounds fucking horrifying.”

 “The RK900 can’t shut off most of its systems. The respiratory system is a backup for the initial cooling system, but has to remain active at all time to prevent critical system temperatures.”

“I know!” Gavin shouted, then scolded himself silently. He forgot. “I know… fuck.”

Gavin grimaced and felt guilty. Cory sucked in desperate gasps for air as his system began to overheat and the detective cursed silently.

“He’s bleeding like a pig. I called a technician, but-“

He heard keys clinking and a door falling shut. “On my way.”

Elijah ended the call and Gavin felt horribly alone with all of this. The attacker was long gone by now. Sighing he activated the flashlight of his phone, almost blinded the android as he tried to get a better look at the injury. He wished he hadn’t. He could see a deep gash, wires and thirium lines severed and spewing blue liquid and sparks.

He practically tossed his phone aside and forced Cory out of the dark DPD issued jacket. The android only needed to last until help arrived. They should have been there any minute now. But Cory seemed to grow more and more desperate, panic now clear on the twisted face.

Was it just the fact that his programmed forced him to fight? Or was he actually scared?

The skin of the android had turned a milky white and was uncomfortably hot to the touch.

“Shit. Fuck…”

His eyes where squeezed shut, but Gavin caught the reflection of tears in his eyes. Most likely caused by the stress his system was under.

He felt horribly guilty now.

“…Can you hear me?” He tried.

Cory gave him a weak nod, followed by another sputter of blue blood to the drenched pavement. At least the rain was washing it away quickly.

“Good. You’ll be okay. Help is on the way.”

Sirens in the distance had Gavin breathe a sigh of relief. Almost at the same time two other cars arrived, one his brother-that overly expensive dark red sports car was hard to miss- the other the technician. Red and blue lights flashed in the parking lot, and already he could see several lights turning on in the complex. The lights in his apartment as well.

“Fuck. Emma noticed.” He hissed and hoped the girl wouldn’t come downstairs.

A man approached him, but was quickly shoved aside by Gavin’s half-brother.

Gavin didn’t know Ryan well and he didn’t want the man prod around the android. He seemed to get the hint when Elijah crouched down next to Cory and took a look at the android.

“…That doesn’t look good.” The man muttered, and Gavin was ready to slap him when Cory flinched.

“Of course not!”

Gavin growled, was about to get up and talk to the patrol about what was going on, but Cory fumbled for the hem of his shirt and he couldn’t find it in him to leave. The bare shreds of deviance had just begun to surface weeks ago. Cory was still in denial, he still spoke about himself as if he talked about a toaster.

But that small motion, the week grasp at Gavin’s drenched shirt and the unspoken request for comfort… he couldn’t ignore it.

“He’ll be okay, right?”

Elijah nodded calmly and turned to the technician, held out his hand expectantly. “I need your bag.”

“O-Of course.” The man barely hesitated when he handed the black backpack to Elijah who immediately dug into it and readied various items. Gavin couldn’t really pay attention when he noticed Chris walk over to him with an opened umbrella.

“You on patrol?”

Chris shrugged. “Happens. Anything about the suspect?”

Gavin scoffed. “Masked, male, human… no idea.” He grimaced and accepted the umbrella the officer held out to him. He used it to shield Cory from the rain and held his phone’s flashlight into the direction of the wound to give his brother a better view.

“Ran off to the main road. Could be anywhere. He came for me, not for Cory. No idea what that ass wanted.”

Chris nodded and wrote into his notebook. Gavin always found it surreal when he saw police work being done with him being uninvolved. It was like meeting a teacher at the grocery store.  

By the time he had explained the situation to Chris, Elijah had removed the knife from Cory and repaired the severed thirium lines.

Chris returned the car and Gavin watched his brother pack up the unused items. “I stopped the thirium leakage. The wires need to be repaired, that should be done inside.”

Gavin only nodded and stood, realizing just how cold he was. His scraped cheek was burning, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal on its own. Elijah mirrored his movements and held out his hand towards Cory.

The android’s LED was still glaring red, skin still a milky white, flickering even. He took the offered hand but couldn’t push himself up on his shaking legs. Gavin flung the umbrella aside and pocketed his phone, then grabbed Cory’s other arm and helped him back to his feet. The android couldn’t balance his own weight and stumbled into Gavin.

Cory was quite light for his height, just a tad heavier than Emma. And the detective was fed up with standing in the rain, growling he pulled his partner into a bridal style carry, uncaring who saw. It was the fastest way.

Cory clung to his shirt, eyes averted from the small ground that had gathered to see what was going on.

Elijah unlocked the front door and called the elevator. Ryan had followed them, most likely to get his bag back once Elijah was done with everything.

When Gavin opened the apartment door, Emma was already waiting. Arms crossed, a deep frown on her face. It quickly dissipated when she noticed why Gavin was so late. Her hands flew to her mouth when she darted out of the way and Gavin carried his partner into the bedroom. It felt wrong to force him onto the couch when he had just recovered from the last incident.

The lights were harsh, unforgiving and Gavin growled in annoyance once he had placed the android onto the bed.

Elijah had already pulled a chair over and fussed over the wiring when Gavin turned to the closet and rummaged around for dry clothing for Cory and himself. The android didn’t have many clothes. It was always a hassle to get him to wear anything other than black. He wondered if he’d ever get behind the reasoning to only own work clothes.

Maybe Cory now finally had a change of heart. That big bulky android that couldn’t be brought down by anything suddenly looked small and frail drowned in the comforter and pillows. He wondered why. It wasn’t hat anything had changed, but Gavin’s hands were stained with thirium and he felt sick at the sight.

Who would have thought that some day the sight of blue blood would turn his stomach faster than any crime scene could?

He took the spare clothes into the bathroom and changed, skipping the shower. There was time for that later.

When he returned Emma was sitting on the unoccupied side of the bed, holding on to Cory’s hand. The android had a weak grasp on the small hand, body somewhat limp. His eyes were closed, LED a dull yellow.

Ryan was gone from sight and only his bag remained. Elijah returned to the room with two bottles of thirium and a teacup for Emma. The girl happily accepted the cup and put it on the nightstand, then resumed to hold the android’s hand.

Gavin felt like the third wheel. Emma had taken a place, he didn’t know he wanted to take.

Hiding it behind a huff he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his brother who put the two bottles on the night stand next to Cory and prodded around the android’s neck. A laptop was opened up on the bed, cables connected to Cory’s LED.

“I forced him to power down until his temperature is back to normal.” Elijah explained. “Most of the damage is repaired. His voice box was damaged and needs more extensive repairs. Get that fixed by a technician in the morning.” He held up a hand as Gavin wanted to protest. “He is able to speak, it only sounds different.”

Gavin nodded, turned to Emma who mirrored the motion.

“Thirium levels are low but not critical. Have him drink this once he’s back up.” Elijah nodded to the two bottles, then face Gavin with such a stern look that the detective felt as if he had done something horribly wrong.

“His body his fine, but his stress levels were extremely high. His system almost initiated an emergency shutdown. Keep an eye on him, he might have a strong reaction to what happened.”

Gavin nodded once again, still felt guilty for yelling at Cory like that.

Emma suppressed a yawn and curled up next to Cory, earning a quite annoyed gaze from her caregiver. Elijah stood, packed up his things and nodded at his brother. “I’m going home. If anything comes up, give Chloe a call.”

“Sure.” Gavin muttered. “Thanks…”

“Try not to get mugged again.” Elijah joked and left the room. Seconds later the door fell shut and Gavin turned the lights off and slumped into his bed, not giving a damn about the world. He just wanted to sleep.

Hours later, when the sun was poking through the window Gavin blinked himself awake. He needed a moment to realize that it was because he had quite literally fallen out of the bed. Emma had taken most of the space she would usually take when she crawled into his bed, but this time her space was occupied.

Cory hadn’t moved a hair.

The LED was now a bright yellow, illuminating the pillow underneath his head. Blue eyes focused on Gavin, followed his every move as the detective made his way to the chair and settled down.

“You good?” he asked silently as he reached for the hand of his partner who readily breached the distance and clung to his hand as if his life depended on it.

There was a soft nod in the dim rays of sunlight, but Gavin didn’t buy it. If he was fine the LED wouldn’t be yellow.

“Fucking liar.” He snarled silently and stood again. “I’ll bring Emma to her room. You stay here.”

Another nod as Gavin picked up the girl and carried her into her room, realizing the cat had been locked in the room all night. The feline quickly left the room when the door was opened and Gavin tucked Emma in, watched her for a moment before he returned to Cory.

The android was now sitting up, struggling to remove the damp clothing with shaking hands. Gavin wondered why he was still so unsteady but didn’t question it. Wordlessly he unbuttoned the shirt and shoved a hoodie into his arms.

Cory didn’t say a word when he put it on. Seconds later he stood and almost fell over. Gavin quickly steadied him, a deep frown on his face.

“The hell?”

“The stress levels on the system are rather high, still. They are affecting the performance of this unit.”

The detective shook his head as he helped Cory out of his pants and into a pair of sweatpants, then forced him to lie back down after he had removed and replaced the damp sheets.  His voice wasn’t much different, he had feared it would sound like a tin-can, but except for a slight mechanical undertone everything sounded normal.

“Why are they still so high?”

Cory was silent for a long moment before he answered. “It appears that the incident has ingrained into the memory files. It is replaying constantly.”

Gavin nodded, understanding. “Let’s talk about it then.”

“You have seen what happened, there is no need to talk about it.”

“Bullshit.” The detective hissed and sat down next to his partner. “You kinda, almost kicked the bucket, right?”

“The unit would have initiated an emergency shut down and would have rebooted once the damage was repaired.”

“So why didn’t you just let that happen?” Things would have been a lot less stressful if that had happened, Gavin assumed. Although he probably would have been a lot more worried.

“Due to the extent and location of the damage it was difficult to think _rationally_.”

Gavin scoffed. “Scared? You?” It all seemed a lot less frightening in the morning, but he couldn’t just forget the horrified expression on his partners face.

“It wasn’t fear.”

“You looked pretty scared to me, Nines.”

“There was a possibility that this unit would cease to function for an extended amount of time, if _I_ had not forced it to stay active.”

“So, you were scared.” Gavin insisted.

“ _I_ don’t know.”

A smile crept onto the older man’s face as he dragged an arm around Cory’s shoulders.

“I was scared too.”

“You?” Cory echoed, voice almost mocking. “Why would that be?”

Gavin snarled and flicked the side of his head. “Come on do you expect me to stay calm when you sound like you’re choking to death on a fucking knife?”

“ _I_ suppose not.”

“Exactly. Don’t ever do that again.”

“Save you? That man was aiming for you. You would have died from such a wound and that would have been…” Cory faltered for a second, but Gavin noticed the pause. “…it would have left Emma without anyone.”

Gavin lifted an eyebrow. “That’s not what you wanted to say.”

Cory’s LED flickered red into his face for a second, then he continued, “It would have also been unfavorable to work without you, Gavin. The thought was disturbing.”

Gavin tensed. Had that statement held the meaning he thought it did? Or was he just overthinking?

He had sworn not to get _too_ attached to Cory, but there was no stopping it. That android had wormed his way into Gavin’s heart like Emma had done. And maybe he had even taken up a slightly different portion of it.

“…Lets just both be more careful…” Gavin muttered and took his arm down.

Cory looked at him then, eyes swimming with something Gavin couldn’t place. It was the strangest gaze he had ever gotten from the android.

And before he had fully registered it Cory leaned in and kissed him.

It was over before Gavin had fully grasped the motion, Cory’s LED now a glaring red and he had to grab the android’s shoulders to keep him from getting up. Cory looked positively terrified, but the detective couldn’t tell if it was because of his reaction or because of what Cory had just done.

Gavin couldn’t say he didn’t like it. Of course, he had sworn to never fall for an android again.

But fuck him if he couldn’t just enjoy himself for a little while.

And like anything else he did, he rushed in without thinking, and returned the kiss.

A second later the android fell forward and grabbed his shirt with a vice like grip.

“What too much emotion?”

He wanted to laugh when Cory nodded, the sound got caught in his throat when the android went limp.

His phone beeped with a message at exactly the same moment and he looked at it with a concerned frown.

_‘Emergency shutdown initiated. Do not be alarmed, the stress levels have reached critical levels. Reboot in 03:37:28.’_

Gavin wasn’t sure if he was concerned or amused that he had managed to force the RK900, the most advanced model ever, into emergency shut down.

He settled on an amused chuckle and eased Cory back down before he curled up next to him to catch up on the missed sleep.


End file.
